Thompson’s Station gets Little Free Library

Thompson’s Station finally has a library of its own, albeit more miniature than most.

Library steward, Beth Seaman, has announced the installation of Thompson’s Station’s first Little Free Library.

“I had wanted to have one for really long time,” she said. “We just moved here in January. In Mississippi, where were lived before, the street was really busy, and I didn’t want anyone to get run over. When we moved here, we saw Phyllis Dover’s in Spring Hill on Facebook. We asked if she had built it, and the son said his dad had. I asked if his dad could build me one and he said they had a spare. So, I bought it and completely remodeled it, and it’s a cute little cottage now.”

The concept of the library is simple: Patrons of all ages can stop by the library and choose a book. When they’ve finished, patrons return that book or another book they believe their neighbors would be interested in reading. The books stocked in the Little Free Library are always free.

The first Little Free Library was built in 2009 by Todd Bol of Hudson, Wis. as a tribute to his mother, a former teacher and lifelong reader. Nine years later, there are over 10,000 of these libraries in 50 countries around the world.

The mission of the Little Free Library program is to promote literacy and the love of reading by building free book exchanges worldwide, and to foster a sense of community and connection by sharing creativity and wisdom across generations.

Seaman said the library is “really popular in my neighborhood. The kids in the neighborhood love it. We’ve met more people since we put it up the first weekend in June than the six months prior that we lived here. All of the parents have stopped and said, ‘thanks for putting it up.’”

Thompson’s Station has long petitioned Williamson County for a library of its own. Currently, the nearest libraries for the community are in Spring Hill and Franklin.

The library is located at 1353 Saybrook Crossing, in the Newport Crossing subdivision.

Other communities have also opened similar libraries in recent months. The first Little Free Library in Spring Hill opened in Spring Hill last fall. It is located in the front yard at 1914 Lawndale and is in a small, homemade box that allows those wishing to take out a book to do so without having to have a library card.

The Little Free Library in Spring Hill is coordinated by Phyllis Dover and her family. It’s been in existence for about six weeks, she said.

“My husband and I built this out of picture frames, wood, and an outdoor rug for the roof,” she said of the box, which sits by a bench near the street. “You can make them out of anything. There have been some made out of microwave ovens.”

She said after hearing of the program, she just had to be a part of it because, “I just love to read books. It’s a very relaxing thing to do. What better thing to do than contribute to the community? I’d rather have the neighborhood looking at them rather than dumping them somewhere else. I oversee this, but it actually belongs to the community.”

The location of the box, next to her mailbox, is perfect for “people jogging or walking their dogs,” Dover said.

The Maury County Public Library has also been operating a Little Free Library out of the vestibule at its Columbia location. Library officials said several books have been loaned out through the library box and most are returned. Often, out-of-town visitors pick up the books rather than check out a book from the library itself.

Rules for posting comments

Comments posted below are from readers. In no way do they represent the view of Stephens Media LLC or this newspaper. This is a public forum.

Comments may be monitored for inappropriate content but the newspaper is under no obligation to do so. Comment posters are solely responsible under the Communications Decency Act for comments posted on this Web site. Stephens Media LLC is not liable for messages from third parties.

IP and email addresses of persons who post are not treated as confidential records and will be disclosed in response to valid legal process.

Do not post:

Potentially libelous statements or damaging innuendo.

Obscene, explicit, or racist language.

Copyrighted materials of any sort without the express permission of the copyright holder.

Personal attacks, insults or threats.

The use of another person's real name to disguise your identity.

Comments unrelated to the story.

If you believe that a commenter has not followed these guidelines, please click the FLAG icon below the comment.